Sunday, November 27, 2011

Best Cyber Monday Deal, Guaranteed

I have the absolute best deal for you or your loved one:


Check out this ECP carousel I put together to make it easier for you to buy the ECP in advance and have it handy:



I added the condoms because the carousel had to have 6 items minimum, and, for some reason, Nextime (out-of-stock) and Next Choice came up as not found.

Also notice we're now back to the i-Pill on Amazon, with Nextime unavailable, but let's not get sidetracked by that. The i-Pill and Nextime are different brand names for the same drug, a one-pill progestin (levonorgestrel) ECP. Whichever brand is available, it's easy to order at a good price.

The important thing to remember, if you are sexually active and do not plan a pregnancy, is to buy the ECP now, in advance, when you don't need it and keep it handy and use it in case of an emergency.

Have I mentioned it's important to buy ECP in advance and keep it handy?

If you think I'm belaboring the point, think again. Every single day, mostly via this post, I get comments and emails with questions about ECPs. Common questions, nothing out of the ordinary, from an obviously self-selected sample. And on an encouraging note, a good number of these questions come from men. Still, even I managed to be surprised by one common characteristic, one that stands out and not in a good way.

Not once have I seen it mentioned that the person in need of ECP had it handy. It's always 1) unprotected intercourse, 2) mad dash to find and buy ECP, 3) problem.

Combine the anecdotal findings from my blog with the fact that [o]nly 3% of respondents to the 2006–2008 NSFG [National Survey of Family Growth] indicated that they had received any counseling about EC in the past year, a number relatively unchanged from the 2002 survey, and you have a recipe for disaster.

It's enough that you have to deal with an unprotected intercourse emergency. Don't add to the stress of the situation by being unprepared.

Two more brief points related to the trends I noticed in my readers' ECP questions before I give you, once more, my Carousel o' ECPs:

I) One dose (one pill for Plan B One-Step, iPill, Nextime; two pills for Next Choice, Postinor) only covers one act of unprotected intercourse.

II) Doubling down on the dose (two pills for Plan B One-Step, iPill, Nextime; four pills for Next Choice, Postinor) will not, repeat, will not be more effective than a regular dose.

Bottom line: This holiday season do yourself, or a loved one, a favor and buy ECP in advance and keep it handy in case of an emergency.

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2 Comments:

At 1:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A copper IUD can be placed 5 - 7 days after an oops for 99%+ protection against pregnancy - why fuss with a pill that is only 40 - 85% effective? IUDs have also been approved by ACOG for use in adolescents. More women ought to consider the highly effective and long term contraception of IUDs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_contraception#Effectiveness_of_ECPs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_IUD#Use_as_emergency_contraception

 
At 2:36 AM, Blogger ema said...

In an ideal world, everybody would use the IUD both as a regular method and as ECP.

In the real world, some women are not good candidates, a lot don't have proper information about it, and, last but not least, most women have to jump through hoops just to get a measly ECP pill; access to the IUD is but a dream, unfortunately.

 

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